Hmmmm. Why didn't you include the next paragraph in your quote:
In a report titled "2005: *nix Malware Evolution," the Russian antivirus software developer pointed out that the number of Linux-based malicious programs -- viruses, Trojans, back-doors, exploits, and whatnot -- doubled from 422 to 863.
Numerically, that pales compared to the 11,000 Kaspersky found for Windows in the second half of 2005 alone.
Sure would like to know what "Whatnot" includes... I don't think I've ever seen a computer whatnot...
"Whatnot" is a category used to artificially inflate a number that the author (in this case Andy Patrizio) feels is too small to warrant anybody paying attention to him.
Sort of like a penis-enlarger. ;-)
I never said they were numerically equivalent. Remember this whole discussion spawned because somebody said “other operating systems don’t seem to have this problem” and I pointed out that while the numbers vary and the level of effectiveness varies there’s malware targeted at every OS. It is a universal problem and the only thing that actually changes is the specifics.